Haut-Koenigsbourg, Dambach-la-Ville & surrounds

Today we leave our Riquewhir base and move further north through Alsace to a very small village called Mittelbergheim where we want to experience small town hospitality.  We’ll take the slow wine route journey (‘Route du Vin’ ) through the small towns at the foot of the Vosges mountains so we can soak up this wine growing area.
The direct route to Mittelbergheim (pronounced Me-till-burg-hyme’) is just 40kms and can be done in 30 mins but we’ll take the slow route with slight detours and take all day.
The challenge today will be the heat as this heatwave still has a few days left in it.

We checked out of our hotel, who charged us one less nights accommodation due to the mix up on night one.  It’s another stunning day.
Here we are passing the town of Hunawhir which is between Riquewhir and Ribeauville.  Sights like this will be repeated through today.

Looking back at Bergheim.

Entering Rorschwihr.  On the hill in the distance is the château du Haut-Koenigsbourg.  We’ll visit it soon.

Saint-Hippolyte (pop 1065 and we’re about to see 3 of them).  Saint-Hippolyte
is situated at the foot of the Vosges, to the southwest of Sélestat and is surrounded by fertile vineyards. (but what isn’t around here).


We park up near the church.  Hermann is P2 on the grid.

Building art.  Keen on this one.

The main street of St Hippolyte.

Town fountain.

This is probably the most exposure this sleepy town has had for some years!  Photo of the day…

It’s time to head for the hills and see this castle.  A few hundred metres west of Saint Hippolyte.

Looking towards (I think) Roden.

Through the trees up on the hill.

Once near the top the road does a one way loop around the hill.  This ensures orderly parking and access.  It’s about 10am so we didn’t have to walk too far to the castle entry point.

Looking back down on Saint Hippolyte.

First glimpse of Haut-Koenigsbourg close up.

The chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg is a medieval castle situated in a strategic location on a rocky spur overlooking the Upper Rhine Plain. When I say medieval… the history of it is basically that it was built before 1147 (exact date unknown) and used by various powers through the Middle Ages (including the Habsburgs) until the protestant vs catholic Thirty Years’ War kicked in (1618-1648). It was in 1633 when the protestant Swedes came along and smashed the snot out of it. Well it actually took them 52-days but hey. The castle was burned and looted by the Swedish troops, and for several hundred years it was left unused and the ruins became overgrown by the forest. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 the region was incorporated into the German Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine, and in 1899 the citizens granted the remnants of the castle to the German emperor Wilhelm II. Wilhelm wished to re-create the castle, lauding the qualities of the medieval time of Alsace. He also hoped it would reinforce the bond of Alsatians with the new German Empire. From 1900 to 1908 it was rebuilt in as much detail as known. Of course the French nabbed it back in WW1, and today, it’s one of the most famous tourist attractions of the region, so we thought it’d be rude not to pop in.  The entry point:

We need to get out of this heat.  30C at 10am and rising.  Above the door to the inner part of the castle.

Inner door art.



Dining room wall decorations.


Above the table.

Next room… the compulsory dragon.

Window art.


Heater art.

Medieval pikes.

More armour could surely help avoid a very very serious injury!

And if you were confronted by this in a battle would you a) die laughing, b) question whether this was indeed a battle, c) ask if the freckles were real, or d) do all of the above.

More heater art.


View from up top.


Stunning..  The walk around the castle can be comfortably done in about 90 minutes.

One big mother of a weapon!!  (The cannon is big as well).

Cannon art.

The baby cannons.

Ok enough castle pics. Back to the car and down the hill, taking another route northwest through Kintzheim.


Roy & Jennie. Ok there’s a typo but…

Kintzheim art.

At Chatenois just 4kms along the road.  Hey… a French named town in Alsace!!
The ‘Tour des Sorcieres’ dates to 1402.

Chatenois art.

Castle ruins.

Approaching Dambach-la-Ville.

(Pronounced: ‘Dum-back-la-veel’).

Man it’s hot right now, well into the 30s.  Hermann and the vines.

One of the 60 vino joints in Dambach-la-Ville.

We do want to taste some wines here but first we divert into town through this gate.

This place has a beautiful little square.  People remain scarce.  It’s just too hot to be out.  We headed for the first restaurant for some late lunch and a drink.  It’s 2:05pm and we should’ve known by now that “chef stops at 2pm”.  They kindly make an exception by way of a Flambee. That’ll do us nicely.  This is the view from our seat.

Ordering a drink was kind of easy but getting some ice to go in it was becoming quite a challenge!  Fortunately the couple sitting at the next table overheard and helped us out. Needless to say we now know the French word for ice!  “Glace’.


Beautiful buildings in Dambach-la-Ville.

Still thirsty, Kath fails in her attempt to steal this bottle.

All of this is outside the Hotel de Ville.

Wood carved storks!

Looking back to our restaurant beside the fountain.


We’d past Willy Gisselbrecht Wines on the way in and returned to taste a few of their offerings.  You can buy Willy’s wine in Wellington eh Donna. 🙂

And they didn’t disappoint. Magnifique!

We walked out with a bottles of Riesling and Pinot Blanc.

We drove up the hill through the vines to this small chapel (Chapelle Saint-Sebastien). No it wasn’t to pray, it was for the view over town.


And some flower art.

And some bone art. WTF. Seen through a door (next photo) around the side of the chapel.


Moving on……….. quickly!  Entering the town of Itterswiller.


Car of the day.

We drove on and past the turn off to our base at Mittelbergheim, heading into Barr.  No, not to the bar, to Barr!  Here we stopped for a couple of cold drinks, then topped up the diesel, then visited the supermarket for more cold drinks.


A patisserie in Barr.

There were storks everywhere on this building!

And tremendous looking offerings inside.

Some ideas for Mrs JB?  Just sayin’.

Ok… we found a  petrol station where we their temperature display read 39C!  An we both believed it.  It’s been a challenge today.  The heat has drained us.  TV news here continues to talk about the current heatwave and compare it to the big one of 2003.  There’ll be no let up tomorrow, so we may have to revise the Strasbourg walkabout.
Meanwhile, at the super market…. Kiwi fruit from NZ!!!

Ok.. that’ll do for now.  Mittelbergheim is just 3kms from Barr.  We arrived at a tidy 5:30pm and our host Valerie was very friendly and thorough.  The accommodation they provide is brilliant.  Only 3 years old so all is new.  We only have 2 nights here.  If I was doing the planning again I’d extend. Ok… Kath has hit the sack. She’s knackered. I am too. The air con in our room is doing the job nicely so sleep will be very sound tonight.
Bonne nuit.